Khalil, 29, and Ayyad, 28, immigrated to Philadelphia from Palestine 15 years ago.
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Khalil, who owns Pizza Point in Feltonville, told NBC Philadelphia the person who complained should have taken the bus. “There is a passenger who doesn’t feel safe”, Khalil told FOX 29.
Apparently, the logic goes, terrorists would go through the trouble of a security checkpoint, where they’re searched and body scanned, and then do everything they could at the gate to stand out in a crowd by speaking Arabic, knowing full well that after 9/11, an airport gate can be one of the most racist places in the country.
In this age of terrorism, all of us are told by the authorities, “If you see something, say something”, but what if you hear something?
A Philadelphia man says he’s humiliated after he was briefly stopped from boarding a flight from Chicago when another passenger overheard him speak Arabic, making him uncomfortable.
Finally, they were allowed to fly. While on board, a few passengers were very supportive, but others made the flight home outright uncomfortable, Khalil said.
Eventually, Kahlil and his friend were allowed to board the flight.
And when he and his friend walked through the plane to their seats.
He added that when he boarded “everybody looked at us like we are terrorists – gave us those looks”.
Khalil said, once on the flight, passengers kept asking him what was in the white box he was carrying. So what was inside the box? According to Khali, inside the box was sweets and pastries.
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Southwest Airlines confirmed to ABC that the plane departed Midway worldwide Airport 10 minutes later than scheduled due to “a disagreement with two customers”. A statement from Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. said its employees followed safety procedures as trained to address “passenger situations”.
